Never Give Up!!
I've always loved the simplicity of the phrase 'When life gives you lemons make lemonade'. It may be old (1915) and distorted from it's origins but it is sufficient to sum up the struggles that life throws at everyone at one time or another. This is my journey from when I first actually thought about writing a 'proper' book to 2018 when I finally finished a printable copy. Since then, to say I've made a few glasses of lemonade over that time is an understatement. Maybe I'll bring this up to date once I've published a few more books and can share the details of an ongoing journey that has been literally life changing.
September 2018
Another tick in another box - in September my second VW light and my third clock out of the 'Workshop' all I can say is that there is much much more to come.
August 2018
May 2018
During the last 12 months I had been collecting a wide variety of parts and materials - parts from cars and motorcycles already littered my garage but now I added industrial broken or worn parts from all manner of sources. Stone, acrylic and glass off-cuts were also scavenged to add to what could only be described as a growing 'junk' pile. I had converted my disorganised garage into a functioning workshop and completed my first 're-purposed' materials light and clock prototypes.
In July and August I found the momentum I needed to complete the first step in what I hope to be a continuing saga. On the 19th August 2018 I self published The Globus Project on Amazon and Kobo in e-book and paperback - I am well aware that it may not be a classic or even close but to me it is a major tick in a bucket list and that is what counts!
August 2017
Whilst on a budget holiday in Italy during a heat wave of 40 degrees C the subject of writing a book came up and we started talking about Globus. It was a no-brainer, I had to finish and publish it and if I couldn't find an agent then why not self publish? I decided to get back on the horse and immediately remembered why I loved writing so much but really didn't love the editing part! It was February 2018 before I came to the conclusion I needed help and after some research purchased editing software. I'm sure it isn't a patch on a professional editor but I really didn't have the cash for that route and I was happy with the assistance the software afforded me.
April 2014
In a twist of fate I took up a new job in March 2014 that once again meant my writing was put on the back burner. It really should have been a minor hiatus but it turned into a 3 year slump. I was still scribbling down ideas and dreaming up story lines but nothing really constructive was produced. I must have picked up and put down the Globus text a dozen times without successfully editing any two consecutive chapters. The good news was that it was during this period that the characters Jacob Silverman and Connor Vincenzo came into being - two separate stories were in the making.
February 2014
I completed the first full draft of The Globus Project, enough to allow a couple of people to read what I had written - the feedback was positive. Taking the advice within a well known authors book on writing I decided to put my first novel in a drawer and continued with some of my other stories, including the sequel. My intention was to go back to the Globus manuscript after 6 months and start editing in preparation for publishing.
June 2013
By 2010 I had finished a large proportion of The Globus Project however the final few chapters still eluded me. I had the beginnings of 3 more books in the BioBrother series and at least 5 others separate stories
2009
1992
After years of accumulating ideas I started to organise my less fantastical themes into a more structured proposal. I'd got plenty of time in the evenings whilst working in The Netherlands over the course of 18 months. I began to formulate The Magic Badgers from funny anecdotes for my kids into more structured story lines albeit still with the intention of explaining mysteries like the odd sock, the missing keys and the empty margarine tub in the fridge.
I started writing the first few chapters of a book - I had no idea what it was going to be or where it was going but it was enough to start me scribbling down random ideas from time to time. I had always had ideas for the 'things' I wanted to create or invent but I began to put them down on paper.